A biblical city changes hands

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN) -- As the anniversary of the birth
of Jesus Christ approaches, his birthplace is undergoing a
major change.

A week before Christmas, Bethlehem, presently controlled by
the Israeli government, will revert to Palestinian rule.

Tourists are expected to make holiday pilgrimages to
Bethlehem as they have in years past, but this year residents
are expecting a larger crowd than usual.

"I'm sure it will be a good Christmas," said Gerias Khoury,
of the Al-Liqa Institute. "I'm sure 100 percent because the
tourists will like to come to see what will be when Bethlehem
is under control of the Palestinians."

Different, it certainly will be. For the past 27
Christmases, the Israeli military governor had escorted the
Latin patriarch to the formal ceremonies. Israeli troops had
maintained a tight security grip on the town Christmas Eve.

The Israeli soldiers will be gone this Christmas, replaced by
Yasser Arafat's police as part of Palestinian self-rule.
There will be plenty of security again this year but of a
wholly different kind, said Bethlehem Mayor Elias Friej.

"There will be no closure, no searches. People will be able
to come in freely from all over, but there will be many of
our policeman on duty to ensure that there is proper order,"
Friej said.

But beyond the delight at what will happen in Manger Square
on Christmas Eve, Bethlehem Christians are counting on the
change to usher in a new relationship with their church
hierarchy.

Some Christians hope for a
greater voice in the church.

Some leaders of the dwindling Christian community are hoping
the re-assertion of sovereignty will allow them to press
demands for a church run by Palestinians.

"I hope that the church will continue to have its own
freedom. But at the same time to be considered an
inseparable part of the Palestinian community and society.
If there is somebody worried about the future, then they
should start to change their policy and to understand that we
are going to be in a new era," said Khoury.

The charge is leveled against the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate, to which most Palestinian Christians belong.

"I don't believe a Palestinian patriarch or another
Palestinian leadership could do more than we have done," said
Bishop Timothy, an official in Bethlehem's Greek Orthodox
Church. "We are a church which listens to all the
complaints, but also, as loving mother church, we have to
explain to the children, to the faithful, the congregants
what are the real problems."

The debate over church leadership is sure to continue. But
for now, Palestinians plan a three-pronged celebration -- for
their first Christmas in three decades without Israeli
troops, the first ever under their control and the first in
the presence of their leader.